concurrent get from separate clones fails

Please describe the problem.

When two independent git-annex clones simultaneously git annex get the same key from the same local remote, one succeeds and the other fails immediately with:

transfer already in progress, or unable to take transfer lock
failed to retrieve content from remote
Unable to access these remotes: origin
No other repository is known to contain the file.

The two clones are completely independent repositories with separate .git directories. The source repo is only being read from.

The use case in an HPC/SLURM environment, we are attempting to run multiple jobs in parallel, each in an independent clone, and each may need access to the annexed data simultaneously.

What steps will reproduce the problem?

# Create source repo with a 500MB annexed file on tmpfs
mkdir -p /dev/shm/annex-lock-test
cd /dev/shm/annex-lock-test
git init source && cd source
git annex init "source"
dd if=/dev/urandom of=bigfile bs=1M count=500
git annex add bigfile
git commit -m "Add 500MB test file"
cd ..

# Clone twice
git clone source clone_1 && (cd clone_1 && git annex init "clone_1")
git clone source clone_2 && (cd clone_2 && git annex init "clone_2")

# Concurrent get
(cd clone_1 && git annex get --debug bigfile) &
(cd clone_2 && git annex get --debug bigfile) &
wait

I reproduced this on tmpfs (/dev/shm, Fedora 42) and XFS (/scratch, RHEL on Dartmouth Discovery cluster). I did did not observe it on btrfs (/home, Fedora 42) where cp --reflink=always succeeds and the copy completes in ~1ms.

What version of git-annex are you using? On what operating system?

git-annex 10.20250630 on Fedora 42 (local) originally observed with datalad 1.3.0 and git annex 10.20240831+git21-gd717e9aca0-1 on RHEL (Dartmouth Discovery cluster).

Please provide any additional information below.

Reproducer script output

# If you can, paste a complete transcript of the problem occurring here.
# If the problem is with the git-annex assistant, paste in .git/annex/daemon.log
# /home/austin/devel/tmp-concurrent-branch-subdatasets/annex-only-portable/setup2.log
hint: Using 'master' as the name for the initial branch. This default branch name
hint: will change to "main" in Git 3.0. To configure the initial branch name
hint: to use in all of your new repositories, which will suppress this warning,
hint: call:
hint:
hint:   git config --global init.defaultBranch <name>
hint:
hint: Names commonly chosen instead of 'master' are 'main', 'trunk' and
hint: 'development'. The just-created branch can be renamed via this command:
hint:
hint:   git branch -m <name>
hint:
hint: Disable this message with "git config set advice.defaultBranchName false"
Initialized empty Git repository in /dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git/
init source ok
(recording state in git...)
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
524288000 bytes (524 MB, 500 MiB) copied, 0.876868 s, 598 MB/s
add bigfile 

0%    31.98 KiB        86 MiB/s 5s
13%   65.28 MiB       326 MiB/s 1s
27%   132.94 MiB      338 MiB/s 1s
40%   198.43 MiB      327 MiB/s 0s
53%   265.37 MiB      335 MiB/s 0s
67%   333.12 MiB      339 MiB/s 0s
80%   400.15 MiB      335 MiB/s 0s
93%   467.24 MiB      335 MiB/s 0s
100%  500 MiB         336 MiB/s 0s
                                  
ok
(recording state in git...)
[master (root-commit) 10206e3] Add 500MB test file
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
 create mode 120000 bigfile
Cloning into 'clone_1'...
done.
init clone_1 ok
(recording state in git...)
Cloning into 'clone_2'...
done.
init clone_2 ok
(recording state in git...)
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.52048625] (Utility.Process) process [1453634] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","ls-files","--stage","-z","--error-unmatch","--","bigfile"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.520735725] (Utility.Process) process [1453636] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch-check=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.520660512] (Utility.Process) process [1453635] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","ls-files","--stage","-z","--error-unmatch","--","bigfile"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.520983348] (Utility.Process) process [1453637] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.52106501] (Utility.Process) process [1453638] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch-check=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.521431755] (Utility.Process) process [1453639] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","git-annex"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.521605516] (Utility.Process) process [1453640] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.522041612] (Utility.Process) process [1453641] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","git-annex"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.52229073] (Utility.Process) process [1453639] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.522528836] (Utility.Process) process [1453642] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","--hash","refs/heads/git-annex"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.523030765] (Utility.Process) process [1453641] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.523435594] (Utility.Process) process [1453642] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.523458506] (Utility.Process) process [1453643] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","--hash","refs/heads/git-annex"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.523829116] (Utility.Process) process [1453644] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","log","refs/heads/git-annex..432fba2a78b87504dc9b8f8ee5680af9278029de","--pretty=%H","-n1"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.524484364] (Utility.Process) process [1453643] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.524858446] (Utility.Process) process [1453645] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","log","refs/heads/git-annex..6384d58674d16912622fa58a4fe96e843a0c1935","--pretty=%H","-n1"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.525455904] (Utility.Process) process [1453644] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.526011738] (Utility.Process) process [1453646] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.526375513] (Utility.Process) process [1453645] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.526691082] (Utility.Process) process [1453648] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
get bigfile get bigfile [2026-02-05 10:12:38.529361155] (Utility.Process) process [1453650] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.5293897] (Utility.Process) process [1453651] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.531486658] (Utility.Process) process [1453652] read: git ["-c","safe.directory=*","-c","safe.bareRepository=all","config","--null","--list"] in "/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source"
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.531575546] (Utility.Process) process [1453653] read: git ["-c","safe.directory=*","-c","safe.bareRepository=all","config","--null","--list"] in "/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source"
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.532508668] (Git.Config) git config read: [("",[""]),("annex.uuid",["b5b537cc-6ede-484f-b9c2-da01703972d0"]),("annex.version",["10"]),("color.branch",["auto"]),("color.diff",["auto"]),("color.status",["auto"]),("color.ui",["true"]),("core.bare",["false"]),("core.editor",["vim"]),("core.filemode",["true"]),("core.logallrefupdates",["true"]),("core.repositoryformatversion",["0"]),("datalad.containers-run.oci-runtime",["podman"]),("filter.annex.clean",["git-annex smudge --clean -- %f"]),("filter.annex.process",["git-annex filter-process"]),("filter.annex.smudge",["git-annex smudge -- %f"]),("github.user",["asmacdo"]),("rerere.enabled",["true"]),("safe.barerepository",["all"]),("safe.directory",["*"]),("url.git@github.com:.insteadof",["https://github.com/"]),("user.email",["austin@dartmouth.edu"]),("user.name",["Austin Macdonald"])]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.53266739] (Utility.Process) process [1453652] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.532536997] (Git.Config) git config read: [("",[""]),("annex.uuid",["b5b537cc-6ede-484f-b9c2-da01703972d0"]),("annex.version",["10"]),("color.branch",["auto"]),("color.diff",["auto"]),("color.status",["auto"]),("color.ui",["true"]),("core.bare",["false"]),("core.editor",["vim"]),("core.filemode",["true"]),("core.logallrefupdates",["true"]),("core.repositoryformatversion",["0"]),("datalad.containers-run.oci-runtime",["podman"]),("filter.annex.clean",["git-annex smudge --clean -- %f"]),("filter.annex.process",["git-annex filter-process"]),("filter.annex.smudge",["git-annex smudge -- %f"]),("github.user",["asmacdo"]),("rerere.enabled",["true"]),("safe.barerepository",["all"]),("safe.directory",["*"]),("url.git@github.com:.insteadof",["https://github.com/"]),("user.email",["austin@dartmouth.edu"]),("user.name",["Austin Macdonald"])]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.532910522] (Utility.Process) process [1453653] done ExitSuccess
(from origin...) (from origin...) [2026-02-05 10:12:38.534964516] (Utility.Process) process [1453654] read: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","-c","filter.annex.smudge=","-c","filter.annex.clean=","-c","filter.annex.process=","write-tree"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.53616312] (Utility.Process) process [1453654] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.536446785] (Utility.Process) process [1453655] read: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","show-ref","--hash","refs/annex/last-index"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.537529408] (Utility.Process) process [1453655] done ExitFailure 1
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.537559676] (Database.Keys) reconcileStaged start
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.53776038] (Utility.Process) process [1453656] chat: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","cat-file","--batch-check=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.537919309] (Utility.Process) process [1453657] chat: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.538395887] (Utility.Process) process [1453658] read: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","-c","filter.annex.smudge=","-c","filter.annex.clean=","-c","filter.annex.process=","-c","diff.external=","diff","4b825dc642cb6eb9a060e54bf8d69288fbee4904","33b7a7ea1a2f380d957fabd024cedb7c9ad23aa4","--raw","-z","--no-abbrev","-G/annex/objects/","--no-renames","--ignore-submodules=all","--no-textconv","--no-ext-diff"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.539472717] (Utility.Process) process [1453658] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.540331975] (Database.Handle) commitDb start
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.541705864] (Database.Handle) commitDb done
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.541745995] (Utility.Process) process [1453657] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.541761427] (Utility.Process) process [1453656] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.542048459] (Utility.Process) process [1453659] call: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","update-ref","refs/annex/last-index","33b7a7ea1a2f380d957fabd024cedb7c9ad23aa4"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.543176116] (Utility.Process) process [1453659] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.543287785] (Database.Keys) reconcileStaged end

[2026-02-05 10:12:38.544214283] (Utility.Process) process [1453660] read: cp ["--reflink=always","--preserve=timestamps","/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git/annex/objects/W4/qk/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09",".git/annex/tmp/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.544288768] (Utility.Process) process [1453661] read: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","-c","filter.annex.smudge=","-c","filter.annex.clean=","-c","filter.annex.process=","write-tree"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.544934083] (Utility.Process) process [1453660] done ExitFailure 1

0%    31.98 KiB        20 MiB/s 24s[2026-02-05 10:12:38.545353638] (Utility.Process) process [1453661] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.545773148] (Utility.Process) process [1453662] read: git ["--git-dir=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source/.git","--work-tree=/dev/shm/annex-lock-test/source","--literal-pathspecs","--literal-pathspecs","show-ref","--hash","refs/annex/last-index"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.546702567] (Utility.Process) process [1453662] done ExitSuccess

  transfer already in progress, or unable to take transfer lock

  failed to retrieve content from remote

  Unable to access these remotes: origin

  No other repository is known to contain the file.
failed
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.548068928] (Utility.Process) process [1453648] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.548140718] (Utility.Process) process [1453640] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.548864776] (Utility.Process) process [1453638] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.548904621] (Utility.Process) process [1453635] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:38.549288156] (Utility.Process) process [1453651] done ExitSuccess
get: 1 failed

12%   59.88 MiB       299 MiB/s 1s 
24%   122.1 MiB       311 MiB/s 1s 
37%   184.66 MiB      313 MiB/s 1s 
50%   251.72 MiB      335 MiB/s 0s 
64%   319 MiB         336 MiB/s 0s 
77%   384.19 MiB      326 MiB/s 0s 
90%   450.84 MiB      333 MiB/s 0s 
100%  500 MiB         334 MiB/s 0s 
                                   
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.093823309] (Annex.Perms) freezing content .git/annex/objects/W4/qk/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.095084697] (Utility.Process) process [1453664] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","-c","filter.annex.smudge=","-c","filter.annex.clean=","-c","filter.annex.process=","write-tree"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.096299746] (Utility.Process) process [1453664] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.096715468] (Utility.Process) process [1453665] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","--hash","refs/annex/last-index"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.097734422] (Utility.Process) process [1453665] done ExitFailure 1
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.097763387] (Database.Keys) reconcileStaged start
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.097926938] (Utility.Process) process [1453666] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch-check=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.098047046] (Utility.Process) process [1453667] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","cat-file","--batch=%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)","--buffer"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.098505359] (Utility.Process) process [1453668] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","-c","filter.annex.smudge=","-c","filter.annex.clean=","-c","filter.annex.process=","-c","diff.external=","diff","4b825dc642cb6eb9a060e54bf8d69288fbee4904","33b7a7ea1a2f380d957fabd024cedb7c9ad23aa4","--raw","-z","--no-abbrev","-G/annex/objects/","--no-renames","--ignore-submodules=all","--no-textconv","--no-ext-diff"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.09959837] (Utility.Process) process [1453668] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.100365888] (Database.Handle) commitDb start
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.100662882] (Database.Handle) commitDb done
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.100692003] (Utility.Process) process [1453667] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.100710418] (Utility.Process) process [1453666] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.100985587] (Utility.Process) process [1453669] call: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","update-ref","refs/annex/last-index","33b7a7ea1a2f380d957fabd024cedb7c9ad23aa4"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.102017111] (Utility.Process) process [1453669] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.102056066] (Database.Keys) reconcileStaged end
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.102314034] (Annex.Perms) freezing content directory .git/annex/objects/W4/qk/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.102477675] (Utility.Process) process [1453670] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","symbolic-ref","-q","HEAD"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.103247255] (Utility.Process) process [1453670] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.103522331] (Utility.Process) process [1453671] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","refs/heads/master"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.104386289] (Utility.Process) process [1453671] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.104468617] (Annex.Branch) read 24e/fae/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09.log
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.105191663] (Annex.Branch) set 24e/fae/SHA256E-s524288000--a7dbcf6c0d2641bd5d1e45f66aeda998b755d88e9493e74e035bbfe4aa3e5d09.log
ok
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.105258726] (Utility.Process) process [1453646] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.10527858] (Utility.Process) process [1453637] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.105293529] (Utility.Process) process [1453636] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.105305469] (Utility.Process) process [1453634] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.105370926] (Database.Handle) commitDb start
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.10570153] (Database.Handle) commitDb done
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.10603899] (Utility.Process) process [1453672] chat: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","hash-object","-w","--no-filters","--stdin-paths"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.106383322] (Utility.Process) process [1453673] feed: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","update-index","-z","--index-info"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.107315084] (Utility.Process) process [1453673] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.107763525] (Utility.Process) process [1453674] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","show-ref","--hash","refs/heads/git-annex"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.108701451] (Utility.Process) process [1453674] done ExitSuccess
(recording state in git...)
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.109020286] (Utility.Process) process [1453675] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","write-tree"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.110264109] (Utility.Process) process [1453675] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.110687872] (Utility.Process) process [1453676] read: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","commit-tree","4f5f908f2d4c8684bf5da5bae019ad2f3d313084","--no-gpg-sign","-p","refs/heads/git-annex","-m","update"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.111884486] (Utility.Process) process [1453676] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.112018285] (Utility.Process) process [1453677] call: git ["--git-dir=.git","--work-tree=.","--literal-pathspecs","-c","annex.debug=true","update-ref","refs/heads/git-annex","6f5edc7bb859d3ed8ec8eb7abb42dbe008437c0e"]
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.113028644] (Utility.Process) process [1453677] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.113699633] (Utility.Process) process [1453650] done ExitSuccess
[2026-02-05 10:12:40.113998072] (Utility.Process) process [1453672] done ExitSuccess

</details>

# End of transcript or log.

Please describe the problem.

What steps will reproduce the problem?

What version of git-annex are you using? On what operating system?

Please provide any additional information below.

Have you had any luck using git-annex before? (Sometimes we get tired of reading bug reports all day and a lil' positive end note does wonders)